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IBM's solutions will be integrated with Eurotech's rugged hardware and software building blocks, including High Performance Edge Computers, Edge servers and IoT Edge Gateways to enable AI-supported analytics in the field.

Increasing relevance of Edge and Edge Computing

Data, respectively information derived from raw data is what drives the 4th industrial revolution. Higher levels of operational excellence and the adoption of new, often market-changing business models, require a deeper integration of the information technology (IT) world with the world of operational technology (OT).

Digital transformation is a term encompassing the many facets of a journey that leads to a more agile, on actual data based business environment. And: successful digital transformation requires real-time insights into all aspects of businesses and organizations, including levering possible sources of vital data in the field.

This can only be achieved by enabling and leveraging best practice IT architectures and technology, while catering to the specific requirements in OT environments.

IBM and Eurotech collaboration and vision

IBM and Eurotech share a vision to bring OT and IT into a software defined, open, standard-based ecosystem approach.

By combining Eurotech’s OT capabilities and compute products with IBM's powerful enterprise software and container management solutions, customers can benefit from integrated and validated combined offers that significantly reduce risk and effort, when extending these solutions into demanding environments.

A prominent example is the use of Edge Analytics by IBM Cloud Pak for Data on Eurotech’s rugged Edge Computers, deployed leveraging IBM's Edge Application Manager, to enable AI-supported Business Decisions in the field.

Depending on application requirements, also other elements of IBM’s Cloud Pak offering can be deployed this way.

"The integration of IBM Cloud Pak for Data to build and train analytics models that IBM Edge Application Manager can deploy onto Eurotech’s Edge Computing Hardware, including our High Performance Edge Computers, significantly lowers the barrier of entry for customers that need to leverage computational power for AI and analytics applications in challenging environments" commented Robert Andres, Eurotech's CSO.

Success in Edge and OT means embracing diversity - it is an ecosystem play

The “field” could mean anything from a ticketing machine in a subway, to a packaging machine at the end of a manufacturing process, from a power generator to a cargo locomotive, from autonomous working construction machines to precision farming equipment.

Already these few examples show how diverse, how application specific especially the hardware aspect is, in this world of operational technologies. Different, often challenging environmental requirements (temperature ranges, shock & vibration, sealing & IP rating, etc.) have to be met, enforced by required vertical certifications & tests.

Deep understanding of Edge and OT processes and requirements are necessary to provide sub-systems and systems that from a legal, technical, service and commercial perspective are competitive.

Such diversity requires an ecosystem approach with expert players, rooted in the different verticals, IT and OT, focusing on openness and the ability to integrate at all levels. A great foundation for any open ecosystem is a clear commitment to open standards and open source.

That is true for competitive hardware designs but also for the required software building blocks. IBM, Red Hat and also Eurotech show an impressive track record for supporting and contributing to the open source community.

This translates into an openness in architecture and in integration capabilities that ensure that ever changing or new requirements and technologies can be easily adopted.

This is an important factor when it comes to ensuring the customers competitiveness and value proposition to their respective markets.

Focus on Total Cost of Ownership!

Another fundamental underlaying principle is the focus on optimising the total cost of ownership of a digital information infrastructure that reaches far into the OT environment, into field assets ranging from smart devices and roof-top HVACs to manufacturing floors and autonomous vehicles.

The digitally transformed enterprise or organization requires constant adjustments and enhancements, from the integration of new, game changing sensor technology to adjustments in business logic, from dynamic updates of analytical models to security updates.

A focus on a total cost of ownership (TCO) approach does take into account not only economics of scale but also substantial cost elements like device and asset management, hardware and software life cycle management, communication, and security.

IT-OT integration

Interaction with sensors, actuators, smart devices and field protocols is one important aspect of integration, typically addressed with I/O centric IoT Gateways (systems or integrated CPU boards) that perform the communication, data normalization and basic business logic processing at this level.

With data intensive and time-sensitive applications there comes a need to economically compute these huge amounts of data locally, at the very edge.

This results not only in a steadily increasing demand for edge computing that ranges from very powerful High Performance Edge Computers and Edge Servers to IoT Gateways, (with and without hardware acceleration for the different applications), but also scaling, dev-ops optimized, seamlessly integrated solutions, from the IT cloud / data center to the OT compute edge.

It is important to note, that in many situations, especially where safety and other critical aspects (for example on the process control side), play an important role, the IT / OT integration is happening in steps, in non-intrusive ways.

What Eurotech brings to the Ecosystem - Edge Computing platforms and open IoT Stack

Eurotech, is a leading provider of rugged and industrial-grade embedded boards and systems, Edge computing platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) enablement solutions, deeply rooted in an operational technologies world.

ESF provides flexible device twin modelling over the leading field bus protocols across multiple vertical industries.

Edge developers can leverage the rich IoT middleware functionality using powerful APIs, deploy full-fledge application running natively in the container or use ESF Wires to visually compose data pipelines from their Edge devices.

Everyware Cloud (EC) complements ESF on the Data Center / Cloud side and provides the features to manage data, IoT gateway life cycle and integrate with the enterprise IT infrastructure and applications.

Eurotech's Edge Computing - Vertical and Application Optimized

Eurotech`s focus is on industries with typically valuable assets in the field, developed to support the specific value proposition of the companies using & deploying them, requiring long product life support, dependable partners and solutions that are application optimized.

The learnings from our nearly 3 decades of working in these industries has shaped our Software driven approach to IT and OT integration and forms the very foundation for how IBM and Eurotech are partnering to enable the next wave of software-centric digital transformation.

Core elements of the announcement

The combined edge computing solutions from IBM and Eurotech will enable businesses to collect and analyze data in real time, thus gaining meaningful insights into their day to day operations.

The rugged (and where required high-performance) hardware from Eurotech will help clients extend compute and analytical capabilities to rough and demanding environments, addressing the needs of various vertical markets including industrial (manufacturing, energy & utilities) to mobile solutions (transportation, construction, agriculture and rolling stock).

Cloud Pak for Data deployed leveraging IBM's Edge Application Manager, enables AI-supported Business Decisions in the Field, becoming a seamless extension to the enterprise IT infrastructure.

This will make enterprise operations easier by leveraging the recommendations and actions suggested by artificial intelligence and analytics at the edge. Better business outcomes can be achieved with a reduced latency combined with state-of-art data security, resiliency and uninterrupted productivity.

We would love to share with you our marketing communications. Keep updated on Eurotech latest products, events and newsletter giving us your consent to receive marketing e-mails. If you want to know more about how we manage your data and how to update your subscription preferences, take a look here at our Personal Data Use Informative

We would love to share with you our marketing communications. Keep updated on Eurotech latest products, events and newsletter giving us your consent to receive marketing e-mails. If you want to know more about how we manage your data and how to update your subscription preferences, take a look here at our Personal Data Use Informative

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